Datasheet

reading this section, and soon you’ll be clicking, double-clicking, pressing,

and pointing all over the place. If you think you have the whole mousing thing

pretty much figured out, feel free to skip this section. I’ll catch you on the

other side.

Still with me? Good. Now for some basic terminology:

 Point: Before you can click or press anything, you have to point to it.

Place your hand on your mouse and move it so that the cursor arrow is

over the object you want — like on top of an icon or a button. Then click

the mouse button to select the object or double-click to run it (if it’s an

application or an icon that starts up an application). You point and then

you click — point and click, in computer lingo.

 Click: Also called single-click. Use your index finger to push the mouse

button all the way down and then let go so the button produces a satis-

fying clicking sound. (If you have one of the new optical Apple Pro mice,

you push down the whole thing to click.) Use a single-click to highlight

an icon, press a button, or activate a check box or window.

 Double-click: Click twice in rapid succession. With a little practice, you

can perfect this technique in no time. Use a double-click to open a folder

or to launch a file or application.

 Control+click: Hold down the Control key while single-clicking. Control+

clicking is the same as right-clicking on a Windows system and displays

a menu (called a contextual menu) where you Control+clicked. In fact, if

you’re blessed with a two-or-more-button mouse such as the Apple

Mighty Mouse, you can right-click and avoid having to hold down the

Control key.

I use the five-button Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer 3.0 and recommend

it highly.

 Drag: Dragging something usually means you have to click it first and

hold down the mouse button. Then you move the mouse on your desk

or mouse pad so the cursor and whatever you select move across the

screen. The combination of holding down the button and dragging the

mouse is usually referred to as click and drag.

 Choosing an item from a menu: To get to Mac OS menu commands, you

must first open a menu and then pick the option you want. Point at the

name of the menu you want with your cursor, press the mouse button

down, and then drag downward until you select the command you want.

When the command is highlighted, finish selecting by letting go of the

mouse button.

If you’re a longtime Mac user, you probably hold down the mouse button the

whole time between clicking the name of the menu and selecting the com-

mand you want. You can still do it that way, but you can also click the menu

name to open it, release the mouse button, then drag down to the item you

want to select, and then click again. In other words, OS X menus stay open for

Part I: Introducing Mac OS X Leopard: The Basics

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